MURRIETA- At least one protester was arrested today outside the Border Patrol station in Murrieta, as tensions rose among protesters from both sides of the immigration issue.

The protester was seen calmly walking towards a police squad car, as demonstrators both opposing and supporting the federal government’s recent migrant policies lined a rural road and shouted at each other.

CBS2 identified the arrested protestor as Larry Spencer, and said police told them he was charged with delaying a police officer.

Meanwhile, both the mayor and city manager of Murrieta have said the Tuesday blockade of three buses by relocation opponents has given the city a “black eye” — an image that does not reflect the “compassionate and caring” nature of the city.

“We have been challenged and in some ways we fell down in the face of the challenge” presented by protesters who succeeded in blocking three buses from arriving at the Murrieta Border Patrol station, city manager Rick Dudley wrote in an open letter posted Thursday night.

Since the protest, long sections of rural roadways near the Border Patrol station have been marked “no parking,” and both sides of the issue have been given assembly areas. But law enforcement officials have said a repeat of Tuesday’s blockade of three buses, presumably carrying women and children, will not be allowed.

Persons who support a more-humane immigration policy, and opponents of the federal immigration policy, have squared off. Police kept the two sides apart, but reporters said screaming and yelling was common.

The gate to the Border Patrol station was protected by several dozen police today, as about 140 women and children from Central America was rumored to be heading from San Diego to the Murrieta station. There, they are to be processed and in many cases, released to travel.

On Monday, Murrieta mayor Alan Long appeared on national television and encouraged residents to protest the use of the federal facility in Murrieta.

On Tuesday, swarms of people blocked three buses heading into the post, presumably with women and children fleeing strife and poverty in Central America on board.

And on Thursday, city manager Rick Dudley posted a letter on the city’s website whioch defended the right to protest, but expressed sadness at the results.

“This was not a victory,” the letter said.

“It was a loss for the City of Murrieta … It made this extremely compassionate community look heartless and uncaring.

“That is not the Murrieta that we know and love,” he wrote. “The unfortunate acts at Tuesday’s protest … were not representative of our community.”

Conservative talk radio station hosts in Los Angeles and San Diego were urging listeners to drive to Murrieta to protest, and Spanish-language radio station were urging counterprotests.

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